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Dog Safety Talks FREE "How to be safe around dogs" talks IN HYDE PARK ONLY (email for information about cost for talks given in other locations) "How To Be Safe Around Dogs” The "How To Be Safe Around Dogs"/"Be A Tree" talk teaches children the steps to take before they interact with a dog and the best ways to pet a dog. It also teaches the “be at tree” posture which is used to encourage a dog to settle down or go away. Learn the subtle signals dogs use when they are uncomfortable. Most dogs give these signals before they growl or snap. Keep kids and dogs safe, adults can learn and watch for signs of anxiety in the dog and intervene if they see them. "How To Play Safely With Your Dog” This talk reviews how to meet a dog safely, how to tell if your dog wants to play and what to do if an off leash dog approaches you. We demonstrate basic obedience, games to play with your dog and tricks to teach your dog. Finally we show some of the exercises from the canine good citizen test and give you a taste of the variety of dog sports. For more information about safety around dogs, check out: doggonesafe.com BITE PREVENTION Excerpt from “Dogs Bite But Balloons And Sippers Are More Dangerous" by Janis Bradley "If children are simply taught to ask the owner's permission before interacting with a dog, to let dogs approach them rather than approaching dogs, and to wait to touch a dog until it touches them, neophobically and territorially inspired aggressive behaviors will be largely avoided. If children are taught to not to take food or toys from dogs and not to approach them if they are eating or sleeping, most competitive aggressive responses will be avoided. If children are taught to touch dog gently, most defensive responses will be avoided. If children are taught not to run around or run away from dogs, and especially not to do it while shrieking and flailing in their uncannily accurate imitation of wounded gazelles, most predatory responses will be prevented. Finally, if children can be taught to stand still and "be a tree" if approached by an unaccompanied unfamiliar dog, even one that's clearly threatening, many of the rare serious attacks can be prevented. It may be strongly counter-intuitive and difficult to freeze in the presence of a scary dog, but this heat of the moment difficulty does not stop us from teaching children to drop and roll if their clothes catch on fire. It is simply a matter of having them practice a safer alternative to the intuitive running and flailing, which just happens to be the worst possible course of action in cases of fire and dog attack. And of course the adults who could impart this knowledge to their kids would do well to heed it themselves. Most adults can easily take it a step farther and learn to recognize basic dog body language signals of discomfort (turning away, lip licking, yawning etc.) and not press their attentions on an animal who is exhibiting stress in these ways. It's surprising to me that people need to be taught to avoid a dog that is backing away or growling or standing stiff-legged and not approaching them, but clearly many people need this instruction"
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